Who’s on Crack in tech 12.11.09
by at December 11, 2009 4:08 pm
Sections: Apple, Cellular Providers, Columns, Communications, Features, Gadgets / Other, Mobile, Originals, Who's On Crack
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As the holidays roll up on us far too quickly, thankfully the tech companies of the world have provided us with a bounty of things to talk about at Christmas parties. If you get stuck at one of these festive events where you are supposed to pretend hanging out with the mouth-breathers in your department, try getting everyone riled about by talking about:
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AT&T says enjoy your data now, cause this all-you-can-eat buffet is ending.
Why does AT&T’s network get picked on? AT&T has a one word answer: iPhone. iPhone users are sluping up so much data, it is crippling the network in big cities like New York and San Fransisco. The solution? AT&T will provide incentives for iPhone users to use less data.
Incentives? That’s a fun economics term that will probably mean extra fees for high data consumers. The upside might be that the company lowers data fees for users who consume less while hitting the always-downloading crowd with increases. This should shift consumers to use less. This could mean using WiFi whenever possible or just using your JooJoo pad to surf over your home’s WiFi connection.
Gadgetell’s Sue Walsh had this to say, “If they think they are going to convince smartphone users, especially iPhone owners, to use less data, they are going to be sorely disappointed. Then again, if Apple finally decides to end it’s exclusivity agreement with them, they may well find lack of coverage to be the least of their problems. Where the iPhone goes a good chunk of their customer base may go too.”
Publishers seek to turn the Kindle into yesterdays news.
How to kill ebooks? Delay, delay, delay. Count Simon & Schuster as well as the Hachette Book Group in the We Hate Ebookers club. This group wants desparately to cling to their way of life despite the advance ebook reader army. Paper, ink, stupid jacket covers that don’t stay on, forever!
Maybe I am being too harsh. Ebookers like our Editor, Robert Nelson says, “honestly, this move, except for maybe a very rare case would not be any cause for me to put my Kindle down and pick up a hard cover book. Which means that at least for me, they are just delaying the inevitable ebook sale.”
Maybe the price of ebooks need to rise? Doing so would ease the minds of publishers, allow new releases on Kindles and their ilk while those who can hold out get the lower price. Something is got to give.
Facebook friends you, only to put your stuff everywhere
It seems good old Facebook wants to go public and is taking you along for the ride. The new privacy roll out tools are freaking everyone out. Our Sue Walsh explains it best: “…overall Facebook has seen to it that they have actually taken away some of their users privacy and that is not acceptable at all. C’mon Facebook, wake up. These new “tools” are a horrible idea!”
By getting your status updates public, they become searchable and Facebook’s footprint on the web grows exponentially. The more they can wrestle away from you, they can use to spread around. Sue gives us some pretty good ideas on how you can save what is left of your privacy on Facebook and where to complain about it.
Joojoo to actually make it to consumers hands?
TechCrunch’s vision, now called JooJoo since Fusion Garage decided to cut Arrington out of the deal is now awaiting pre-sales beginning tonight. This whole deal along with a new rumor about Apple’s mythic tablet rolling in on the hour has me reconsidering my excitement about tablets. I believe we can put tablets in the category of UMPCs. Neat but we really don’t want them.
I couch surf with my iPhone just fine. Something bigger is better, but by how much? $500 worth isn’t the answer for me. The problem is the form factor; you go from a handheld, like the iPhone where you can one hand surf to the JooJoo where you lean it on your lap or on a table and the ergonomics are all wrong.
The solution? Simple, get a stand to hold the JooJoo at an angle and make a keyboard that attached with a hinge (that’s smart because it will protect the glass face of the JooJoo). Even better, if you whisper the name “netbook” at your local best buy when you want a JooJoo, they’ll give you one like we’ve just modified above for $200!
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